public most of all. I think Congress will pass it and settle the vexed

question permanently.

I shall need your assent and the assent of about a dozen other authors.

Also the assent of all the large firms of the 300 publishers. These

authors and publishers will furnish said assent I am sure. Not even the

pirates will be able to furnish a serious objection, I think.

Come along. This place seemed at its best when all around was

summer-green; later it seemed at its best when all around was burning

with the autumn splendors; and now once more it seems at its best, with

the trees naked and the ground a painter's palette.

Yours ever,

MARK.

Clemens was a great admirer of the sea stories of W. W. Jacobs and

generally kept one or more of this author's volumes in reach of his

bed, where most of his reading was done. The acknowledgment that

follows was sent when he had finished Salthaven.

****

1222

The Letters Of Mark Twain, Complete